By John Mack Freeman
This week, anti-GLBT legislation in both South Carolina and Missouri died in those states’ respective legislatures.
In South Carolina, South Carolina Senate Bill 1203, which would have prevented cities and schools from establishing protections that would allow transgender individuals from using sex-designated bathrooms, missed the so-called “crossover” deadline. The crossover deadline is the date by which legislation in one chamber has to be sent to the other chamber for consideration. This indicates that the bill has almost no chance of passing during this session.
In Missouri, the Emerging Issues Committee by a 6-6 vote blocked a religious freedom bill. Via Advocate.com:
The bill does have a chance of returning in the legislature, if at least 55 members of the House sign on to a procedural move known as a “discharge petition,” which would force the bill out of committee and onto the House floor for a full vote, according to the Kansas City Star.
The bill, known as Senate Joint Resolution 39, would have gone on the ballot in November, asking Missouri voters to amend the state constitution to protect “certain religious organizations and individuals from being penalized by the state because of their sincere religious beliefs or practices concerning marriage between two persons of the same sex,” according to the measure’s text. Essentially, the resolution asked voters to approve a broad “right to discriminate” against married same-sex couples and other people who somehow offend an individual’s religious sensibilities.
